Suns make surprising choice to start Royce O’Neale over Bradley Beal against Clippers

Despite an opening in the starting lineup with Ryan Dunn out with an ankle injury, the Phoenix Suns started Royce O’Neale instead of Bradley Beal in last night’s 111-109 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Since the three-time All-Star moved to the bench earlier this month, Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer has been adamant that Beal will remain there for the foreseeable future.

When asked last night about the decision to start O’Neale over Beal, he said he’s “just trying to keep some of those same combinations” that the team has held since Beal moved to the bench. O’Neale plays the same position as Dunn while Beal primarily plays shooting guard.

When asked if the move was going to be a long-term decision after the announcement was made that he was moving to the bench before a contest against the Philadelphia 76ers, Budenholzer tried to walk around giving a definitive answer but eluded to the fact that it was likely to be longterm.

“This is a real decision,” Budenholzer stated. “Life in the NBA and life in general. I don’t think you should ever paint yourself into corners, but this is what we plan to do. Continue to evaluate but I wouldn’t turn this into a day-to-day type thing.”

The Suns are 9-3 since the shooting guard moved to the bench. In the nine games he’s played since then, he’s averaging 14.7 points on 49% from the field and 38.5% shooting from deep.

Speculation has continued to strengthen the closer the trade deadline has gotten regarding the Suns trading Beal in a package that sends them Jimmy Butler, which many have said is why he is coming off the bench in the first place.

With Phoenix playing their best basketball since the start of the season where they went 8-1 out the gate, the team seems committed to keeping their third-leading scorer and minutes leader in his current bench role.